Red Line Torpedo Barbs (puntius densionii)

[Sanj]

I am purchasing three of these fine fish for my 400+ litre aquarium, Heeehehehehe hahaha, im so excited another whopper tank!!!

ehem, but there seems to be limited infor on them, Has anybody got these? Can you tell me about your experience with them , needs etc.

I am not surprised they are so popular and £10 at the cheapest!! Think these make excellent alternatives to those fish like Silver Sharks that just grow too big for 99% of aquarium keepers.

 

[ryan]

Hi Sanj,

These fish in my experience are highly sensitive to water condtions. They must be placed into water with an almost exact PH to the store. They are scarce in the wild and may even be endangered. However, they are not on the endangered list so I presume they are not endangered. They are a fast gregasious fish that must be in the company of its own kind to feel safest. I'm sure LL will be help you in more detail.

Good Luck

 

[Sanj]

These fish in my experience are highly sensitive to water condtions

Did you lose yours then?

I will have to acclimatise them over a longer period maybe. I asked Trimar about the water conditions ands my parameters and was told that they should be fine.
Hope so.

 

[ryan]

Hi, no I didn't lose mine, I have come close. The local lfs had nearly everyone who brought one complain of death soon after introduction so they did a few tests and theirs was 7.2 and fish were dead in 6.9 and 7.5 . Mine were fine and live for a long time, they are now at one of my relatives houses close by and still going strong.

I understand Trimar have their PH at 7 so if yours is within 0.2-0.3 you should be ok, but I would still leave them in the bag longer intoducing water slowly. Trimar will send you a info sheet on how to introduce them just follow the instructions on that and you should be fine.

Good Luck

 

[Lateral Line]

Gadazobe has had her 4 for months now. Growing nicely, sedate elegant. No trouble. I've never kept them, I've never seen them offered for sale here. I did some research which suggests they are sensitive, but a lot of wild caught fish are, so just be aware of it and as a precaution, mix the water slowly. Sorry, without personal experience, I'd just be passing on rumours and gossip if I said more.

You could ask Gadazobe, she's really nice.

I presume you're aware that they can grow up tp 150mm, so smaller than Bala's, but still a big fish. Also the classification is a little tenuous, I have seen the called Barbus, Puntius and Crossocheilus denisoni(i).

 

[gadazobe]

Yep - I've had my 4 some time now. True, there isn't much written about them, but I'm happy to share my info on them with you. They're Indian fish and are really seasonal - they can only be found at certain times of the year. Although many have tried, (I hope to be one of them in the future) they've never been bred in captivity and that's also one of the reasons that it's difficult to find them for sale. Definitely a shoaling fish that thrive in groups of at least 4 ( sometime in the future I'm getting more )

At the moment mine are 2-3" (the largest 3 and the smallest 2) and they live in a heavily planted community tank with lots of bottom feeders and a shoal of sailfin mollies. They eat anything from flake to frozen and really love bloodworm. They're the most genteel and friendly fish that I have - their colours are stunning.

The area where I live has hard water which I don't soften, but they are thriving (touch wood and anything else ), maybe coz I got them from my local lfs who quarantines them for some time before he sells them and they get used to the local water while there.

If there's anything esle that you want to know, just ask and I'll do my best to help you.

 

[Sanj]

Hello people,

thank you for replying.

Gadazobe,

Im in Coventry and the water here is hard, but I use co2 in my water so I get a Ph 7.0-7.2 and Kh7-8 Gh14.

I asked monty at Trimar and I understand his PH is similar, but I sent him my parameters and he seems to think theyll be ok. So im hoping so.

I am going to acclimitise them slowly in the bags. I will float for 30 mins then open, role the bag down and slowly add water over the next hour, keeping an eye on them all the way.

The only iffy bit is these are going in my soon to arrive Rio 400, using most of the Rio 240 mature water, some of the gravel for seeding and I will use some of the filter media form the 240 (i know it is smaller, but it will seed the larger sponges) plus I will wash the new media with the same water that i will wash olde media in.

The plants will be transfered and is densley planted in the 240, will be in the 400.

If water is all ok they will go in the new 400 if not I will temporarily keep them in the Rena.

I am hoping the 400 will be pretty stable considering I am pretty much transferring the 240 into the 400.

Sound ok to you?

Oh i had read in places that they can be a bit rough on plants, but in other areas that they are fine in planted aquaria. I guess yours have been ok also??

I want to build upto a small shoal also.

lateral Line,

yup I know they get to a reasonable size, but a managable one. I wanted a fish that was a good size but not too big. They will be the kings of my Asian dominated aquarium

I think they are now considered to be more Puntius then Crossoceilus now.

I was buying these fish anyway to go in the 240 and move the boeamanii to the 380. However now that i am upgrading to the Rio 400 (which also think will have more than a 400 L capacity), everything is going in there.

All the better for the fish


I did add wild caught SAEs from Trimar to my aquariums and they were ok.

Well I hope all goes well, these guys arent cheap, but they will be worth it

 

[gadazobe]

That's how I acclimatized mine - floated them for some time and then let some tank water in - slowly replacing the bag water with tank water.

I'm sure that they'll be happy in their new rio 400 (wish I had the space for one )When I transferred my cichlid tank to something much bigger I did it in the same way that you intend doing yours and I had no problems.

Good luck with the fish and keep us informed on their progress.

 

[kiwi]

Just purchased 2 Torpedo barbs $28 in New Zealand. Put them in my comunity tank and they settled in straight away. Apparently only discovered in the last 12 months. (hence the price) Told at the store they adapt to any conditions and enjoy temp of 22-25c Will feed them tonight , hope they like bloodworms

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> Apparently only discovered in the last 12 months

The fish was described first by Day in 1865. They have been exported several times, but are regulaly seen now although somewhat seasonal.

 

[Sanj]

The fish was described first by Day in 1865. They have been exported several times, but are regulaly seen now although somewhat seasonal.

Yup thats true, they were discovered a long time ago and while all these europeans took the credit for so many 'discoveries', I wonder whther they really did 'discover' them or was it more likley that some amongst the native people of India were long aware of them, just not classified and documented them according to western nomenclature.

These guys are expensive, partly because they are seasonal, but also because i do not think they have been commercially available for a very long. There are several other species of tropical fish from India that may come onto the market over the coming years.

Oh and i have five now

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

Is this the same fish??

Denisin barb

It looks close to a Hemigrammus rhodostomus maybe you could get thes as it is cheaper but look the same??

 

[ryan]

Those pics look the same but in real life Torpedo Barbs are much bigger and more brighter in comparison to Rummys and they are very different fish.

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

the pictures are different and yes i see the maximum length is 15cm for the barb and 5cm for the tetra.

Ok i was just thinking as if they are really hard to keep but would like some thing near the same looking fish

 

[Lateral Line]

>>>
Yup thats true, they were discovered a long time ago and while all these europeans took the credit for so many 'discoveries', I wonder whther they really did 'discover' them or was it more likley that some amongst the native people of India were long aware of them, just not classified and documented them according to western nomenclature.
<<<

>>> The fish was described first by Day in 1865.

Note, I used the word described, not discovered. It is obvious that many species were well known to many before they were "described" for taxonomic purposes, going back into prehistory in some cases.

>>> Is this the same fish??

Yes, Fozzy, that is another common name for the same fish. A very different fish from that, or either of the other 2 species of "Rummy Noses", which are Characins from South America.